ORDER :

W.P.No.19712 of 2022 :

This writ petition is filed questioning the action of the respondent No.2 in issuing the e-procurement notice NIT No.125/2022 dated 15.06.2022 incorporating the condition No.2.2.3 (a).

2. The counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are the farmers running poultry farms for the last so many years. While so the respondent No.2 issued e-procurement notice NIT No.125/2022 dated 08.06.2022 for the year 2022-23 giving eligibility criteria under para 2.2.2 by allowing the consortium of poultry farmers to participate in the tenders subject to fulfilling all the other eligible conditions with a restriction of the number of farmers in the consortium to a maximum of four original poultry farmers which cannot be exceeded to. The Para 2.2.3 of the said notice envisages that the suppliers, dealers, traders, marketers, third persons and brokers forming joint venture or partnership or doing poultry formation on lease farms or tenant farmer are not eligible to participate in the bid. The said tender notification was also published in the daily newspapers. Instead of adhering to the said conditions, the respondent No.2 suddenly issued a corrigendum to the said tender notification dated 08.06.2022 by inserting the para 2.2.3(a) enabling the lease poultry farmers also to participate in the bid provided they are properly registered with the registration and stamps department for a period of at least two years till 30.06.2024 subject to fulfilling all the other conditions on par with the poultry farmers. The counsel for the petitioners submits that the said corrigendum was issued in order to facilitate the corporate egg traders at the cost of real poultry farmers. In furtherance of the said action, the respondent No.2 cancelled the earlier tender notification dated 08.06.2022 and issued the impugned tender notification dated 15.06.2022 with the introduction of para 2.2.3(a) as stated above. No sufficient time was also given for submission of the bids pursuant to the impugned tender notification dated 15.06.2022. Hence, the said procurement notice NIT No.125/2022 dated 15.06.2022 is assailed in this writ petition.

3. On the other hand, the learned Government Pleader relying upon the counter affidavit of the respondent No.2 submits that the e-procurement tenders were called for procurement of supply of eggs to all the schools and Anganwadi centers under the scheme of Jagananna Gorumudda and YSR Sampoorna Poshana in the State. The 26 tenders were floated from NIT Nos.107 to 132 i.e., one bid for each district. The tender notification was published in the widely circulated Telugu daily newspapers i.e., Sakshi and Eenadu and in the English newspaper dated 08.06.2022. The schedule of the tender was as follows:

He has specifically denied that the lease poultry farmers are allowed under the impugned tender notification dated 15.06.2022 only in order to facilitate the corporate egg traders and submits that it is far from truth. The leased poultry farmers are also the poultry farmers. The term ‘lease poultry farmer’ itself denotes that they are poultry farmers but not the corporate traders as alleged by the petitioner. Similar to the leased farmer in agricultural sector, leased poultry farmers who ha